Carrera 45s . . . splendid watches!
Interesting that:
* there were only nine versions of the Carrera 45, five in steel and four gold-plated
There are likely to be pulsometer versions of at least the S dial too. I believe at some point after they were introduced the pulse dials were only available to special order, so are significantly scarcer than the Tachy (most common) and Deci (rarer but still more frequent than pulse) scale watches.
* all are "early", so no black inserts in the hands and no wider markers
Yes, the dial execution change seems to be at the introduction of the Carrera 30s, which replace the 45s. The changes are carried over to the 12s, which continue, but all 45s should be in first execution.
* the "D" version (decimal minutes) seems to be rare . . . at least I can't find one on my C-drive; let's hope that this version is not one of the ones that was shown in the catalogs, but never made it into production. who can show us one of these?
Yes, Deci scale watches made it to production on 45s, at least with the S dial - I've seen quite a few in my time, probably more than I have 12 Decis. This is of course the earlier blue Deci scale, rather than the black one introduced in second execution. The early Carrera catalogues often came with a paragraph (or applied sticker) saying something along the lines of "All dials available with Tachy, Deci or Pulse scales". This is something where my research is still ongoing in respect to black dials - that 3647 NT photo on OTD was hard to find, I think I have now seen 2 of these watches in total. And I have never seen a Pulse or Deci scale watch with a black dial - this for me is one of the still unanswered questions about the early Carreras; "Did the Deci and Pulse scale watches come in black dial variants?". Anecdotally yes, given they are alluded to in Heuer literature, albeit indirectly, but I have never seen either in the metal. If this can turn up an answer for this in the form of photos of one or both, I will be very happy (and/or looking for the next Carrera mystery to resolve!).
